On the surface,
this forgotten playoff series looked to be a cakewalk for the
powerful Denver Nuggets.

Led by new coach
Larry Brown and a revitalized roster that included all-stars
Ralph Simpson, Mack Calvin and Mike Green, the Nuggets had
coasted to an incredible 65-19 regular season record and an
easy first place finish in the ABA's Western Division.
The Nuggets had lost only two - that's right, just two -
home games the entire season. In the first round of the 1975 ABA
Playoffs, they dispatched the Utah Stars and
rookie Moses Malone in six games.

The revamped Pacers
weren't supposed to contend for anything in 1974-75. But they finished
the regular season with a surprising 45-39 record and a third
place finish in the Western Division. Then, in
the first round of the ABA Playoffs, co-ABA MVP George McGinnis
helped the Pacers beat the talented San Antonio Spurs in an
emotional 7-game series.

The
Pacers were viewed as a pesky opponent for the Nuggets in the Western
Division Finals, but no one expected the bizarre and memorable
series that occurred. It
involved unlikely twists and turns in momentum, elaborate hexes
and spells (courtesy of the mascots imported by each team),
griping coaches, and, ultimately, one of the biggest playoff
upsets in ABA history. Not
even a single game of this series was shown on national television
- the following summaries will give you an idea of how this
series unfolded.

Pacers Program

Nuggets Program

Game # 1
@ Denver 4/20/1975

GAME
SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman
and Arthur Hundhausen):
The
Nuggets had lost only
two home games the entire
season, and none in the playoffs. This pattern held true
to form, as Denver beat the Pacers
131-128 in a game that
really was not as close
as the final score would
indicate.Denver led from wire to
wire and improved its 1974-75 record
at the Auditorium Arena to a gaudy
44-2.

Mack
Calvin (# 20, at left,
with 22 points and 9 assists) and
Ralph Simpson (below, with 29 points)
played well for Denver, but the
real surprise was forward Dave
Robisch. Robisch started along
with Mike Green and Bobby Jones
on Denver's front line, and hit
the first five shots he took. Robisch
scored 16 points in the
first half and ended up
with 28. "It was Mack, Ralph and Robisch," Indiana
coach Slick Leonard said. "If anything, Robisch
was the difference. You figure Mack and Ralph are
going to hurt you, Dave
was really the difference."

Behind
the trio, Denver
hit 60% from the field
as the Nuggets built
a 19-point
lead in the 2nd quarter, 59-41.
Indiana rallied behind George McGinnis,
who had a sensational 39 points,
22 rebounds (13 on the offensive
boards), 8 assists and 5 steals.
Big George had 16 points in the
third quarter alone, including
a nasty dunk with 9:49 left
that bent the rim three to four
inches. McGinnis got significant
offensive help from two other
Pacers - Billy Knight with 28 points
and Billy Keller with a brilliant
22 points in 22 minutes - including
four 3-point bombs. But
Ralph Simpson hit 5 of 6 free throws
in the last 2 minutes to hold off
the Pacers.

Leonard
noted, "It looks OK, a three-point
game, but to me it just wasn't
that close of a game. I never felt like we were in it."

INDIANAFG FT-FTA PTS

McGinnis16 7-1339

Knight 7 14-1828

Hillman 43-411

Buse 41-19

Joyce 50-010

Keller 82-222

Elmore 41-29

TOTALS48 28-40
128

3-pt: Keller 4

DENVER FG FT-FTA PTS

B. Jones 7 2-216

Robisch108-828

Green 65-617

Calvin 78-822

Simpson117-1229

Beck 40-08

Taylor 32-28

V.B. Kolff 1 0-02

Terry 0 1-21

Washington 0 0-00

McFarland 0 0-00
TOTALS49
33-40131

3-pt:
None

Indiana29 29 32 38128

Denver34 31 28 38131

Fouls- Indiana 26, Denver 31

A-7,444

Game #
2 @ Denver 4/22/1975

GAME
SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and
Arthur Hundhausen): In
a brazen bid to shake up Denver's psyche, the
Pacers imported their secret weapon
to Denver - super-mascot Dancin' Harry. To
the confusion of a standing-room
only crowd of 7,491, Dancin' Harry (at left)
put a pre-game hex on the
Nuggets. The hex worked
like a charm, as the Pacers got a 131-124
win and stole the home-court advantage
from Denver.

Aside from the hex, the Nuggets lost
because the Pacers shot a blistering
60.7% from the field, and because
rookie Billy Knight (below)
was simply unstoppable. Time
and time again Knight got behind
the Nuggets defense, took quick passes
from either McGinnis (18 points nine
assists), Kevin Joyce, or Darnell
Hillman, and put the ball in the
basket. Most often, it was
at the end of a 2 on 1 fast break. Knight ended up
with 44 points, hitting an amazing
18 out of 22 shots attempted.

The Pacers really
won the game in the 2nd quarter,
when Knight scored 17 of his points
and the Pacers outscored the Nuggets
41-28. Indiana then extended
to a 78-60 lead in the third quarter.
The game still turned out to be exciting - there was almost
a constant din in the Auditorium Arena during
a tension-filled 4th quarter. The Nuggets were able to gradually
whittle down Indiana's lead. The
Pacers were up 121-112 with 2:07
to go. Then
came four Nuggets three-point baskets
in 75 seconds. At 1:56 Claude Terry drilled one,
and then came three straight by Mack
Calvin at 1:21, 1:06 and 0:43, the
last one a sensational off-balance
bank shot. Remarkably, Calvin
had scored only 3 previous three-pointers
(in 16 attempts) all season long.

With their three-point barrage, the
Nuggets closed to within
125-121, and then 127-124. But the Pacers
were able to held off every charge
Denver made - they were helped by
another couple of timely baskets
by Knight. And
Billy Keller gunned in 10 key
points down the stretch. Keller hit a critical 12-foot baseline
jumper right after Calvin's second
three-pointer - after the game, Keller
commented on the shot: "When you start playing protective
basketball, that's when you get beat. We almost fell into
that. I got the ball on the baseline
and I thought to myself that we could
break their momentum right here. And I could
hear a sigh of relief from the stands
when I put it up. But when it went in, I felt like we still
had control of the game."

INDIANAFG FT-FTA PTS

McGinnis 81-218

Knight188-944

Hillman 63-415

Buse 00-00

Joyce 24-48

Elmore 82-318

Keller 75-521

Brown 23-57

Netolicky 00-00

TOTALS51 26-32131

3-pt: Keller 2, McGinnis 1

DENVER FG FT-FTA PTS
B. Jones 40-08

Robisch 73-517

Green102-222

Calvin 64-419

Simpson125-529

Beck 50-010

Taylor 2 4-48

V. B. Kolff
16-78

Terry 10-03

TOTALS48 24-27124

3-pt: Calvin
3, Terry 1

Indiana25 41 25 40131

Denver26 28 28 42124

Fouls- Indiana 24, Denver 26

A-7,491

Game #
3 @ Indianapolis 4/24/1975

GAME
SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and
Arthur Hundhausen): George
McGinnis (# 30, right and below) snatched
all momentum that Denver had built
over the first three quarters of Game
3 and turned Market Square Arena into
his own personal playground. McGinnis'
32 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists
helped push Indiana to an unlikely
118-112 win and a 2-1 lead in the series. McGinnis
summed it up by saying: "We were damn lucky. We
shouldn't have won that game. They had it. We were
just really lucky. We beat 'em in one quarter and won
the game."

Denver
grabbed
control of the game in the
first quarter, and kept it. In
the third quarter,
behind the strong play of Ralph
Simpson, Mack Calvin and Byron Beck,
Denver's lead ballooned to 13 points. Even at the beginning
of the 4th quarter, Denver still
held a relatively safe 95-84 lead.

After a McGinnis
basket and a Billy Keller 3-pointer
trimmed Denver's lead to 95-91, the
Nuggets managed to keep the advantage
until Billy Knight's tip-in with
5:57 left tied it at 100-100. That's when McGinnis took
over. His shot from the corner put Indiana up 104-102
at 4:13 - it was the first time
the Pacers had led since 16-14 in
the 1st quarter. After Mike Green hit a jumper for Denver,
McGinnis retaliated from the
top of the key. Then, after Byron Beck had put in a rebound,
McGinnis duplicated his previous
shot and put Indiana ahead to stay,
108-106. Before it was
over, McGinnis dished off an assist
that found Knight open in the corner
for a bucket, and later connected
on two crucial free-throws with 38
seconds left for a 116-112 lead,
right after a Ralph Simpson 3-pointer
had brought the Nuggets within 114-112.

After the game,
a furious Nuggets coach Larry
Brown maintained that referee
Jess Kersey had swallowed
his whistle in the 4th quarter,
giving the Pacers some help. He was particularly
upset over the lack of a
call when Denver led 95-84
and Claude Terry missed a
jumper. "Claude got smacked right in the face
by McGinnis. Kersey is two feet away, and
he didn't call it. He told
me he didn't see it." said
Brown. "Then they go down and get two
buckets and they're only
five down. People say that's only one call,
but to me that turned around
the game. I know I'm not supposed to say anything
about the refs - I'll probably
get fined. But that one was just too much to
take."

DENVER FG FT-FTA PTS

B. Jones 70-014

Robisch 5 1-211

Green 6 5-617

Simpson 9 11-1230

Calvin 66-618

Beck 82-318

Taylor 0 0-00

V.B. Kolff 1 0-02

Terry 10-02

TOTALS43 25-29112

3-pt: Simpson
1

INDIANAFG FT-FTA PTS

McGinnis 9 14-1833

Knight122-626

Hillman 33-49

Buse 20-14

Joyce 3 2-38

Keller 54-414

Brown 02-22

Elmore 86-822

TOTALS42 33-46118

3-pt: McGinnis
1

Denver36 27 30 19112

Indiana29 30 25 34118

Fouls- Denver
33, Indiana
28

A-15,496

Game #
4 @ Indianapolis 4/25/1975

GAME
SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and Arthur
Hundhausen): After
their traumatic meltdown in Game 3, most
observers felt the Nuggets were in trouble. They
had shown no ability to contain George
McGinnis or Billy Knight. They
were blaming their series deficit
on the referees. And there was
that small matter of the hex Dancin'
Harry had placed on them back in Game 2. All
told, they were about as far down as a
team can get.

But
in Game 4, Denver surprised most everyone
- including themselves - with
a 126-109 win in front of 17,389 rabid
Pacer fans at Market Square Arena.
The win evened the series at
2-2. Nuggets coach Larry
Brown said: "I've never seen anything
like this team. Talk about having your
back to the wall." Brown called
the Game 3 loss "the most disappointing of
my life. We played 84 games to get
here and then something like that happened. Now,
to see these guys come back . . . We've just
got some people with character."

One
hero was center Mike Green (# 22, above). Quiet
for the previous three games, hitting only
16 of 42 shots, Green suddenly erupted for
a sensational 32 points on 16 of 30 shooting. Green
tossed in 20 points in the first half, but
it didn't look good for the Nuggets as they
still trailed 64-61 at intermission. They
still trailed 68-65 when 8-year veteran Byron
Beck (# 40, below) sparked Denver with some
brilliant play. He
hit seven straight points to lift Denver
to a 72-68 lead, a lead that the Nuggets
would never relinquish. Beck scored
11 of his 23 points in the third quarter,
and 17 in the second half. "We had
to have this game. How could we come
back to Denver down 3-1 after what the city
has done for us?" noted Beck after his stellar
game. A
third hero for the Nuggets was Bobby Jones
- he snagged 20 rebounds (a Denver season-high)
and according to Beck, "just owned the defensive
boards." Jones
also scored 17 points and hit all but one
of his eight shots from the floor.

For the Pacers,
it was a bitter loss that wasted a fantastic
effort by Darnell Hillman (# 20, above). Hillman
went 9 for 9 in the first half, hit his
first 10 shots, and wound up with a game-high
34 points, making 15 of 18 shots. McGinnis
also had a strong 25-point game, but
the Pacers just couldn't duplicate the
Game 3 comeback. After the game,
Slick Leonard locked the Pacers' dressing-room
door to members of the media and then
disappeared before talking to any reporters. Billy
Keller took just a few questions before
saying: "I
believe it's best if I just didn't say
anything."

DENVER FG FT-FTA PTS

B. Jones 7 3-417

Robisch 43-311

Green144-432

Simpson 74-418

Calvin 77-721

Beck10 3-323

Taylor 1 0-02

Terry 0 0-00

V.B. Kolff 02-22

TOTALS50 26-27126

3-pt: None

INDIANAFG FT-FTA PTS

McGinnis 95-525

Knight 55-515

Hillman154-434

Buse 1 0-02

Joyce 40-09

Keller 4 3-311

Brown 2 0-05

Elmore 4 0-08

TOTALS44 17-17109

3-pt: McGinnis 2, Brown 1, Joyce 1

Denver31 30 33 32126

Indiana29 35 20 25109

Fouls- Denver 16, Indiana 25

A-17,389

Game
#5 @ Denver 4/27/1975

GAME
SUMMARY
(by Al Hoffman and Arthur Hundhausen):
Coming
home
with the
series
tied, the
Nuggets
left nothing
to chance. To counteract any appearance
by Indiana's
' Dancin'
Harry,
and another
possible
"hex,"
the Nuggets
hired Robota,
the "Wicked
Witch of
the West"
to
make a
Game 5
appearance.
The witch put a spell on the entire Pacers team
during
pre-game
warmups,
including
a pensive
Darnell
Hillman
(right). She cast a special
curse on
George
McGinnis,
using a
life size
cutout
of Big
George
and a smoking
cauldron
at mid-court.
During the game, she
spent time
behind
the Pacers'
bench casting
even more
spells.

All of the spells, curses and hexes seemed to backfire on
the Nuggets,
as the
Pacers
outshot,
outhustled
and outscored
the Nuggets
for a 109-90
blowout
that wasn't
even that
close.
Amazingly, it was Denver's second home loss of the series
- equaling
the number
of home
losses the
Nuggets
had suffered
over the
entire regular
season.

The game's
tone was
established
right away.
Showing no ill effects from the witch's curse, McGinnis
stole the
ball from
a surprised
Byron Beck
and scored
the game's
first basket
27 seconds
after the
game's opening
tip. Early in the 4th quarter, the Pacers maintained
a slim
lead and
the Nuggets
still had
a chance.
Dave Robisch hit a bucket at 11:10 of the 4th to make
the score
81-79 Indiana. But
McGinnis
then took
the game
into his
own hands.
At 10:57 of the 4th, he hit a 3-pointer to up the lead
back to five
points. Another 3-pointer at the 9:36 mark upped an
eight point
lead to 90-79. Finally a three-point play with 8:04 left
put the game
out of reach
- counting
a regular
two-point
basket a
few seconds
into the
4th period,
Big George
had scored
11 points
in 4 minutes.
Suddenly what had
been a somewhat
close game
was broken
open.
Following the McGinnis outburst, the Pacers
held the
Nuggets
without a
field goal
for over
7 minutes,
causing the
disappointed
crowd to boo their
home team.

After the Pacers blowout, Slick Leonard described the unpredictable
nature
of the
series: "This
is a tough
series
to figure. They win by 20 at our place, and then we
win by
20 here. I don't know what the reasons are, it's just
unreal.
It's a
funny game.
This game
doesn't
mean much
for the
next game. It just means that we have two shots to win
the series. Game 6 should be a helluva ballgame. But
hell, I
don't know
what'll
happen
in this
thing."

INDIANAFG FT-FTA PTS

McGinnis142-333

Knight110-022

Hillman 0 3-53

Buse 3 6-913

Joyce 8 1-217

Keller 22-26

Elmore 41-29

Brown 12-24

Netolicky 02-22

Edge 00-00

3-pt:
McGinnis 3, Buse
1

DENVER FG FT-FTA PTS

B.
Jones 5 2-212

Robisch 43-411

Green 92-220

Simpson 6 0-012

Calvin 3 4-410

Beck 6 3-315

Taylor 1 0-02

Terry 3 0-06

Washington 0 0-00

McFarland 1 0-02

TOTALS 38 14-1590

3-pt:
None

Indiana22 32 25 30109

Denver22 26 29 1390

Fouls- Indiana 18, Denver
25

A-7,483

Game
#6 @ Indianapolis 4/30/1975

GAME
SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and Arthur Hundhausen): While
Denver looked dead after a listless performance in
Game 5,
the
series once again defied expectations.

In
an
exciting
game
that featured
29 lead
changes and an ABA all-time
record
crowd of
17,431,
the Nuggets'
Mike
Green,
Mack
Calvin,
and Bobby
Jones came
up
big in
the final
quarter to
help
force
a deciding Game
7 back
in
Denver. Each had a significant role
in
a close
104-99 Nuggets victory.

With
only
3:15
left
in
the
4th
quarter,
Denver
held
a
slim
96-95
lead. McGinnis
(26
points,
14
rebounds)
then
cruised
in
from
half-court
for
a
thundering
dunk
and
a
97-96
Pacers
lead. "I thought it's been loud in Denver," said
Larry
Brown
later,
"but
holy
cow,
when
McGinnis
dunked,
I've
never
heard
anything
so
loud
in
my
life."
But
Green
came
back
20
seconds
later
for
his
own
dunk
and
a
one-point
Denver
lead.
Hillman,
with
a
chance
to
put
Indiana
back
in
the
lead,
missed
a
wide-open
12-footer. McGinnis fouled Green on the rebound
-
Green
hit
the
two
resulting
free-throws
to
give
Denver
a
100-97
lead. The three-point margin gave Denver the cushion
needed
to
win
the
game,
but
it
didn't
come
easy.

An
irritated
McGinnis
took
the
ball
at
the
top
of
the
key
and
stormed
down
the
lane
for
a
driving
layup
with
1:17
to
play. But
on
the
way,
he
drove
into
Denver's
Byron
Beck,
Bobby
Jones
and
Mike
Green. Beck
went
flying,
and
referee
John
Vanak
came
out
of
the
scrum
to
call
McGinnis
for
charging. The offensive foul took away the basket
-
and
a
potential
game-tying
free-throw
-
from
Indiana. Denver used the next possession to run
down
the
clock
-
and
with
50
seconds
left,
Green
calmly
hit
a
20-foot
jumper
to
give
Denver
a
102-97
lead. After a basket by Billy Keller (below # 11)
cut the
margin
back
to
three
points,
Mack
Calvin
sealed
the
win
with
two
crucial
free
throws.

On his part, Pacers' coach Slick Leonard
was disgusted
with some
of the calls
made against
the Pacers,
including
the crucial
charging
call against
McGinnis
in the last
90 seconds. He viewed
the game
as a theft
by referees
John Vanak
and Jack
Madden: "That
was the stinkingest
. . . job
of refereeing
I've ever
seen . .
. They took
a five-point
play away
from George
[McGinnis]
. . . The
only factor
in the game
was the officiating. They
controlled
the game
from start
to finish
and every
single call
went against
us.
Every guy in this room knows how
bad this game was. They know it. The
fans know it, and Denver knows it. This
game wasn't played by the players, it was
played by the officials. It was a
rotten job by Vanak and Madden. I've
had enough. They come in and call
a stinking game. The officials took
it away from us - all that acting going
on. That falling down. My respect
for officials tonight is down to zero. If
the Commissioner wants to fine me that's
fine."

Over in the Denver locker room, the Nuggets
appeared
to project
confidence
for Game
7 back in
Denver. Mack Calvin said: "I feel good now and
I want to
feel a lot
better Saturday
night [after
Game 7]."
Asked about being home in the Auditorium Arena for
the final
game, Fatty
Taylor said: "I
don't want
no witches
or music. I just want it the way it's been all year."

DENVER FG FT-FTA PTS

B. Jones 41-29

Robisch 12-24

Green135-531

Calvin 7 7-821

Simpson 48-1016

Beck 63-415

Taylor 32-28

V.B. Kolff 00-00

TOTALS38 28-33104

3-pt: None

INDIANAFG FT-FTA PTS

McGinnis104-426

Knight 9 0-018

Hillman 65-617

Buse 20-04

Keller 70-015

Joyce 40-08

Elmore 51-311

TOTALS43 10-1399

3-pt: McGinnis 2, Keller 1

Denver25 19 36 24104

Indiana24 22 31 2299

Fouls- Denver 16, Indiana 24

A-17,431

Game
#7 @ Denver 5/3/1975

GAME
SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman
and Arthur Hundhausen):In
the final improbable
twist of this unpredictable
series,
the Pacers beat the
Nuggets for the third
straight time at Denver's
Auditorium Arena. Incredibly, it was the fourth straight
win for the road team
in the series. Indiana's
104-96 Game 7 victory
gave Indiana the series
win, one of the most
memorable upsets in
ABA playoff history,
and a most unexpected
berth in the 1975 ABA
Finals against the
Kentucky Colonels.

Game
Audio: Pacers
at Nuggets, Game
7
Last Ten Seconds
of Regulation

The decisive game was televised live in both cities
- by KWGN Channel 2 in Denver,
and by WTTV Channel 4 in Indianapolis.

It was not a blowout - Indiana
was
able to forge ahead
by 10 points in the 2nd quarter,
but the
Pacers' lead
would get no bigger. In
the 2nd quarter,
the
Pacers were powered
by 11
points each from
Billy Keller and George McGinnis (above
left).In
that quarter,
Indiana hit
67% of their shots while Denver made only 35%
of their
shots. Denver rallied with
a
9-0 run
in the 3rd
quarter -
it
gave Denver a
slim
75-73
lead.
Dave Robisch scored 5 of the 9
points in the run.Denver
still led 85-84
with under 7 minutes left, but
it was the last time. Indiana
countered with a McGinnis hoop,
a Knight layup (off a McGinnis
assist) & a McGinnis dunk
to put
the Pacers ahead for good.
Behind
Bobby Jones (above right,
team-high 20 points),
Denver tried to rally.
But the Nuggets couldn't
close the gap in time.

McGinnis
literally did everything
to carry Indiana to the
Game 7 win - he scored
40 points, grabbed 23
rebounds, dished 8 assists,
and made 3 steals. He
also scored 10
of Indiana’s last 14 points -
the key basket was a
3-pointer with 3:54 left that
expanded Indiana's lead to
96-92.

"I never hesitated on that one," McGinnis
noted after the game. "I thought it was a big play for
us at the time. And looking back, it sure was. Then
I got two goal-tending calls
after that. Yeah, I'd say they were questionable. But
then I think there have been
questionable calls throughout
this series, especially that
charge on me in the last game." Roger Brown described McGinnis'
performance this way:
"George smelled victory going down towards the end
of that game and he went to
the boards like a wild man, or the 'bull'
they say he is." After the final
horn, in a display of class,
McGinnis visited the Denver
bench and embraced all of the
Nuggets.

In
the victorious Pacers locker
room, Coach Slick Leonard (below)
was quick to compliment Indiana's
rookies - Billy Knight, Len
Elmore and Kevin Joyce - on
a well-played series: "They developed
a lot of confidence throughout
the year and really made the
season for us. But this has been one
great series. We
had six sellouts and 15,000
the other night back home." Asked about his beef with
the referees after Game 6,
and the officiating in Game
7, he simply stated: "When you lose,
you're unhappy. I
don't like to think that referees
contribute to the winning and
losing of a game. Really, I think the last game was the only
one out of twelve we played
this year where it was a true
factor. But hell, all the damn complaining I'm gonna do isn't
going to change anything." Finally, on winning
Game 7 and moving on to play
Kentucky in the ABA FInals,
he noted: "We were a little tense
at the start, trying to hurry
things and getting fouled up. I told 'em in a time out to
take their time, and they did. Then we got things smoothed
out and got the job done. Kentucky? The hell with the
next game, I'm going to enjoy
this one awhile."

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